Integrity
by Deandra
Summary: Eldarion and Elfwine make ill use of their play time. Fluffy little ONE-SHOT. Part 176 of the Elfwine Chronicles.


_**Part 176 of the Elfwine Chronicles. The Elfwine Chronicles are a series of one-shots built around the family group of Eomer, Lothiriel and Elfwine. The total number will depend on how many ideas I get for new vignettes.**_

_**A/N: lindahoyland was encouraging me to write something on this topic for a Teitho challenge. I wasn't particularly inspired to submit it there, but it did seem a good topic for a Chronicle. Hopefully it will get me writing again. I've been rather stagnant of late.**_

**Integrity**

**(Jul, 9 IV)**

"Come on!" Eldarion urged, waving Elfwine to follow him down a long hallway. The two scurried excitedly along, full of the boundless energy found in young boys. With a guest to entertain, he was presently freed from lessons, and that made the day all the better.

They always enjoyed one another's company, and looked forward to visits, so both had been eagerly anticipating Elfwine's arrival at Minas Tirith for some time. Given a choice, they would have been off on adventures the moment the Rohan royals rode into the courtyard of the Citadel, but Eldarion's parents had intervened. He had a lesson they insisted he finish while Elfwine settled in, and then the appearance of relatives from Dol Amroth meant they had been required to suffer boring pleasantries, along with 'visiting' in the library. What was the point of that? They had their own views on visiting, and it didn't involve sitting around a stuffy room sipping at refreshments and talking! The best they had managed together was some whispered conversation about their activities for the next several days.

The moment breakfast concluded this morning, they had hastened to disappear before they could again be cornered. Eldarion had lots of wonderful pursuits he intended to share with his friend from the North. At the moment, he was leading the way out to a garden where he was allowed to play unattended. Most of the time, if he wanted to stray very far, he had to have someone with him, but in this refuge he could entertain himself without interference from nurses or guards or anyone else.

The majority of the garden was under his mother's care, and she loved tending the flowers and plants there. Eldarion rather suspected it reminded her of her home before, in Rivendell and Lothlorien. She had told him many stories of her life among her people, and he thought it must be hard for her to leave the trees and rivers and sunshine to move into a city of stone.

In spite of that, Arwen realized that boys needed a patch of dirt to call their own, so she had set aside a section for Eldarion's use. He dug and built, but mostly got very dirty whenever he spent time there. It was to that spot that he and his friend now went. They whiled away the next two hours involved in an epic battle between their forces, forming battlements and fortresses in the dirt for their soldiers to occupy.

Gradually, however, their interest waned in that activity, and they began to cast about for something else to claim their attention. Normally, Eldarion was careful to stay out of his mother's portion of the garden. Now, though, his eyes fell upon a new trellis that had been set up. Usually such things were hidden under greenery, but this one was too new to yet be covered. That looked _very_ interesting indeed!

Glancing around, he noticed that the trellis was almost the same height as a wall that fronted a small terrace above them. They could have a wonderful time climbing up to that terrace, and the trellis would make a perfect ladder! They could pretend to be storming a fortress! Perhaps even act out the stories they had heard of orcs and Uruk-hai laying siege at Helm's Deep! Quickly Eldarion explained his idea to Elfwine as he moved to relocate the trellis to the desired spot.

"Will your mother be angry?" Elfwine asked with concern, as they tugged and strained to uproot the structure.

"Why should she be? We will put it back when we are done," Eldarion assured him, moving cautiously so they didn't drop their wobbling prize.

As that seemed reasonable, Elfwine went along with the plan, and the boys had soon wrestled the tall device over to where they wanted it. Looking up, the wall seemed much higher than it had previously, but since the trelllis reached almost to the top, they did not let that concern them.

Generously, Eldarion offered, "Do you want to go first, or shall I?" He was anxious to try it out, but his parents were always stressing he should use manners, so it was only polite to let Elfwine be first if he wished.

Eagerly, the younger boy nodded and moved over to more closely examine the makeshift ladder. After a moment, he had determined how to place his hands and feet in order to climb slowly upward. The wood creaked and bent under his weight, as he worked his way along, but he paid it little mind since Eldarion was laughing and calling encouragement to him from below, particularly the higher he went.

When he reached about halfway, he heard a sharp snap, but before it even entirely registered, he felt his left foot give way. Scrabbling to hold on, the wood under his right hand cracked also, throwing him off balance. He snatched frantically at air, but his efforts were vain, and a moment later, he crashed to the ground. Eldarion had thought to catch him, and stop his falling, but Elfwine was too far up and too heavy for the young prince to be able to do much more than break his fall. Both boys hit the ground hard, knocking the breath from their lungs, and they lay there in a daze for several moments.

Finally, Elfwine slowly began to sit up, checking to see if he was injured, and relieved he only found some cuts and scrapes. He eyed his friend solemnly, asking, "Are you all right?"

Eldarion sat up as well, then nodded. "Yes. You?"

"I am unhurt," Elfwine said, turning to eye the trellis that had fallen down around them, cracked and broken.

Eldarion joined him in the perusal, halfheartedly picking up a few pieces and holding them in place, as though he thought they would mend themselves back where they belonged. After a moment, he told Elfwine, "Come on! Hurry!"

Leading the way, they dashed inside and hastened to Eldarion's room through little-used passages that he had discovered in the house, thus avoiding being spotted by anyone. Once there, he began to skin out of his dirty clothes and motioned for Elfwine to do likewise. "We can put these in the wash basket and tidy ourselves. With clean clothing on, no one will know it was us that broke Naneth's trellis."

Slowly Elfwine began to follow his example in disrobing, but after a moment, he looked up at the other boy with a frown. "_We _will know," he observed quietly.

Eldarion paused to gaze at him uncertainly, then replied, "But if we tell anyone, we will get into trouble for it."

Elfwine chewed on that before answering, "Maybe, but…Mama and Papa will be disappointed if I do not tell the truth. It is worse when they are disappointed rather than angry. Somehow it hurts more."

Gondor's prince sat down on the side of his bed, his dirty tunic and shirt in his hands, considering this. At length he straightened proudly and said, "We will confess. We must show that we are not cowards. We must do what is right."

His voice cracked slightly, and his friend knew he was still concerned about what punishment they might receive. Truth was, Elfwine was worried about that also, but he felt sure this was the best thing to do. He had seen Papa look at him with disappointment when he got into mischief, and he did not like the feeling it gave him.

With a sigh, Elfwine said, "I will go wash and change into clean clothes also, and then we will speak with your mother. Maybe…maybe if we offer to help build a new trellis she will not be too angry with us."

It was a sorrowful-looking pair that presented themselves before Queen Arwen a quarter of an hour later. Lothiriel was with her at the time, and they eyed their sons curiously, wondering why they seemed so dispirited.

Deciding it was his responsibility to explain, Eldarion stepped forward. "Nana, I…we…" He could not hold her gaze and looked down at the floor before mumbling, "We…we broke your trellis."

His voice was so soft that Lothiriel barely caught his words, but Arwen's keener hearing was unaffected. "How did that happen?" she asked quietly, and hesitatingly her son told her of their game. Once he reached the part of how the trellis had actually been broken, her eyes flicked over the boys, noting a few scratches on Elfwine's face and a slight bruise forming on Eldarion's cheek, but finding no other indication of injury. "You are unhurt?" she questioned.

Eldarion nodded. "Elfwine fell on me, but we were not hurt."

"I am glad of that," Arwen told them gently, moving to enfold her son in a hug, and Lothiriel followed suit. The latter, however, made a brief examination for herself before being satisfied as to his health.

Tears formed in Eldarion's eyes, but he fought them back as he bravely told her, "We will build you a new trellis, Nana, to replace the one we broke. And we promise never to do such a thing again."

Arwen smiled at the pair. "That is good to hear, dearest. And I am proud of you both for being so honest." She pressed a kiss to each boy's head and sent them off to play.

The mothers stood watching their sons leave, not speaking for several moments. At length, Lothiriel observed, "They grow up so fast! And, yet, it is pleasing to see them becoming such fine young men. There is great hope for the future of our lands with these two waiting to guide their people in their fathers' stead."

Arwen nodded, a beatific smile upon her flawless features. "Indeed. This moment is worth all the tomorrows I may have sacrificed by lingering in Middle Earth with Estel."

xx

The two boys shifted nervously as they were ushered into the king's study. Elessar rose from his desk when he spied them, and moved around it to gaze solemnly down upon the pair. Arwen had told him what had transpired earlier in the day, and he felt inspired to meet with the boys himself.

He gestured to the couch and told them, "Please be seated."

Both boys were thinking they must have gotten off too easy with Arwen, if Elessar now wished to address them. Perhaps there was still some serious punishment to come, even though Eldarion's mother had not mentioned such. They watched with concern as Elessar pulled a chair around to face them, and then sat silently for several moments.

Finally, he announced, "I understand there was a mishap earlier, in Nana's garden."

It was not a question, and momentarily neither boy knew what was expected of them. Thinking an answer was required, Eldarion nodded. "Yes, Ada. We…I thought we could use Nana's trellis as a ladder, but it broke while Elfwine was climbing it." He tried to bravely meet his father's gaze, but it was difficult to do since he felt so ashamed.

Not mincing words, Elessar added, "Nana tells me, also, that you came forward and admitted to the matter, before it was even discovered. Why did you not wait until someone asked about it?"

Eldarion's brow wrinkled, confused by the question. _Did Ada think he should have kept silent rather than confess?_

Elfwine spoke up, though, in response. "We did not want to be cowards. And we did not want you to be disappointed with us. I do not like it when Mama and Papa are disappointed with me." Surely that was sufficient explanation, though the king did not immediately reply.

At last, however, a warm smile spread over his face. "I am very glad to hear that! We do not like to be disappointed in you, as it makes us very sad. And we especially do not like having to punish you for any misdeeds. Coming forward with the truth is not easy, but it is the right thing to do. You have acted mature beyond your young years. I am very pleased with you both!"

The boys broke into relieved grins at the king's approval, and looked at one another with some astonishment. They had never expected things to turn out so well just by telling the truth. While they knew there would be times when it would not be so easy as this, if their misdeed was more serious, certainly this was a pleasing outcome to their mishap.

"Would you consider," Elessar proposed, "allowing me to assist you in rebuilding Nana's trellis? I should like to work alongside such fine young men!"

Both boys eagerly grinned and shouted, "Yes!" in unison. Rarely did the king have time to spend playing with them, so it was always a treat when he was able to do so. If there had been any doubt in their minds that they had made the right choice earlier, it was now gone. Having the king's approbation, and his company, was abundant recompense for the worry they had suffered. Still, with any luck, in the future possibly they could enjoy his presence without having commited some offense! That would be even better.

THE END

8/5/08

Eldarion is 9 and Elfwine is 8; Point of Reference: This story is taking place around the same time as the story "New Life", when E/L were in Minas Tirith and Lothiriel learned Danwen was having difficulty conceiving a child.

_**End note: **__** It is best that you read the Elfwine Chronicles in the order they were written.**__** The more of them that I wrote, the more likely I was to make reference to one of the previous ones and something that happened there. If you want to read them in order, go to the top of this page and click on my name (Deandra). That will take you to my profile page. Scroll down and you will find all the stories I have written. The Elfwine Chronicles are in order from bottom to top since ffn shows them in the order they were posted. A few were posted out of number order, but you can read them in posting order or number order since those few won't be affected in the story content.**_


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